Phrogman writes: The Conservative government of Steven Harper in Canada has proposed a new bill that would impose a jail term of 10 years for anyone wearing a mask while "participating in a riot or unlawful assembly". The conservative backbencher who proposed the bill makes it clear that he intended it to allow police to arrest anyone wearing a mask "before protests spiral out of control". Since this is the same government that arrested hundreds of protesters during the G8/G20 summit using a law that didn't actually exist, it raises the question as to how they will define "unlawful". This is the latest in a series of "tough on crime" legislation being promulgated by the Conservatives now that they have the power of a majority government. The 10 year penalty is more than double the penalty awarded to a person who murdered someone in a fit of "road-rage" recently.Link to Original Source

Okay... so having RTFA, it seems that this law is intended to cover stuff like the Vancouver Hockey Riots [mashable.com], where a bunch of people went randomly crazy and proceeded to smash windows, set cars on fire, and steal things. And, in all truth, it really would be nice if the legal system were able to cover things like that, since a bunch of those people got away with it [riot2011.vpd.ca]. That said, the usual abuses of power suggest that this will actually be used against the Anonymous guys who show up at protests wearing Guy Faw

It is useful in that the police state can arrest anyone who they think may in the future possibly be party to the committing of a crime which cannot be defined. Protecting the people from future crime. Didn't futurama do something like this?

It would certainly seem to be intended by the MP who tabled it as enabling the police to arrest people wearing "masks" *before* they do anything wrong. This bill makes it a crime to engage in protest while trying to remain anonymous to any degree. So where before someone could wear say a Guy Fawkes mask and simply wave a banner and be within their rights, now they are criminalized for doing the same. All they need to do is declare any assembly of protestors as being "Illegal" then grab anyone who could be c

And you know lawyers-police-courts, will always try to exploit a loophole and tack on even more charges just because they can, so I guess make-up (lipstick etc..), glasses, long hair over face, facial hair, and so on and so forth will be trotted out as a "disguise" simply because the situation was classified a "crime" by those who declared it so, whether or not it really was. So yeah damn'd if you do damn'd if you don't. To object, is to be a criminal by default.
If you ask me, I'd say we're all turning in